The Gatekeeper
by Laelia Sarai
Summary: If what Hohenheim said was true, how could alchemists in Amestris use alchemy after Ed closes the gate? What if Winry found a way around that? And what about Ed on the other side of the gate? Post movie EdWin


**Title: **The Gatekeeper

**Chapter Title:** Prologue Part 1

**Summary: **If what Hohenheim said was true, how could alchemists in Amestris use alchemy after Ed closes the gate? What if Winry found a way around that? After being attacked on a train ride to Central, Winry loses her memories and becomes the only real Alchemist left. And what about Ed on the other side of the gate? Post-movie EdWin

**Author's Notes:** There are a few OC's, but the main one isn't much of an OC. The first few chapters take place immediately after the end of the movie, and from then on I'll let ya'll know the time period because it'll jump around a bit. The POV jumps around a bit too, but in this chapter it's either from Winry's POV or from 3rd person. And I'll shut up now. Enjoy!

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The sky seemed to mock me as the sun set. I was walking through what had been a dangerous part of town until our army had shut down whatever forces had been attacking us, thinking about what I'd just seen. Sheska left to go check in with her superiors and I had decided to walk around to clear my head.

I wasn't going to kid myself; I knew that Ed had left again. Probably for good this time. I half hoped I was wrong and that I was just being pessimistic, but I just couldn't bring myself to think he was still here.

I sighed to myself and began walking faster, more determined, adjusting the shoulder strap on the case I had been carrying. It wasn't as heavy as it was when I first picked it up this morning, and that emptiness seemed to reflect me almost as if it were a mirror.

When I came to myself and stopped my melancholy thinking, I realized I had gone from a "dangerous part of town" to the war zone itself. I stopped in my tracks and looked around. The ground was littered with bodies and armour from the battle. Buildings were crumbling slowly and the ground was cracked.

As I stood assessing the damage, one of the soldiers trying to clean up addressed me.

"Miss? …Miss?" I blinked and turned my head slowly to look at him.

"Ah- sorry." I said, lowering my gaze to the ground until he reached me.

"Miss, this is an unsafe area. You need to leave for your own safety." Another voice broke over the soldier's; I felt a shockwave run through me when I heard that voice.

"Winry!" I snapped my head to the left to see a large suit of armour waving at me.

"Al…?" I had no time to respond to the armour as four soldiers surrounded it, shouting for backup.

"There's more of them!"

"It's still alive!"

I wanted to tell them no, that wasn't their enemy, that was my friend. That was Al. But why was he back in the armour?

"E-excuse me. I don't mean any harm. I just want to talk to my friend over there." Al pointed gingerly at me, but his ability to speak only seemed to frighten the soldiers even more. I didn't know much about the military, but I guessed they were fairly new to it considering their inability to handle the situation. I vaguely recognized the insignia on one of their uniforms as that of a Sergeant.

"Sergeant!" I called, trying to make the man pay attention to me. The soldier in front of me looked like he was growing quite impatient with me.

"Please, Miss, this is no place for you to be."

"Just one moment, please. I know the boy in that armour." The Lieutenant (I recognized his insignia, too) gave me a strange look, then turned.

"Sergeant Roth, bring the armored man over here." I smiled my thanks to the Lieutenant and he gave me a tired look in return.

I turned back at Al, but I couldn't see him clearly. Dust had filled the space between us and it was thick enough to block my view of him. I coughed and covered my mouth partially with my hand.

"Al?"

"Watch out! It's falling!" I recognized Al's voice, but not what he was saying. Falling? What was falling?

I heard something rumble behind me, but I felt sluggish and heavy and I couldn't move. I managed a half turn and saw the building behind me begin to crumble.

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Winry watched the building fall, and by the time the dust settled she was unconscious, possibly dead, half buried underneath the rubble.

"WINRY! WINRYYY!" Al screamed, breaking through the line of soldiers around him to rush to her side. The Lieutenant who had spoken to her before was crouched next to her, attempting to find a pulse. He pressed his index and middle fingers to the side of her neck, holding them there for a few seconds before dropping his hand to his side.

"She has a pulse but it's faint and getting fainter. We've got to get her out of here and to a hospital fast." The man turned and began moving the rocks from her legs. Al rushed to her, nearly pushing the young Lieutenant over, and began throwing the boulders over his shoulder as if they were mere stones.

One of the Sergeants who had been attempting to contain Al had gotten a medic. The woman pushed through the on-lookers and knelt next to Winry's unconscious form.

"She's got a bump on her head from when she fell… she's broken her wrist…" The woman turned her gaze to the part of Winry that had gotten crushed and she sucked the air through her teeth. "It doesn't look good for her legs. Her right one in particular." The woman stood. "Alright, pick her up carefully and mind her leg."

"Miss…? Will Winry…. Will she be alright?" Al twisted his hands nervously and the woman turned around.

"To be quite honest with you, dear, it doesn't look good. I'm not sure how much damage she sustained internally; but her decreased heart rate isn't a good sign at all." The woman sighed and shook her head, following the soldiers carrying Winry. "I'm sorry, dear. I'll do everything I can for her, but I can't promise that will help."

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I didn't know where I was when I woke up, but it was very bright. I turned around and gasped. There was a large doorway; a gate, even, that stood alone in a seeming world of maddening whiteness.

It took me a moment to notice the figure crouched near the gate. He seemed to be inspecting it. I took a step toward him.

"Um…. Sir? Where am I?" The man looked at me and I took a step back. "Colonel!" I gasped.

Roy stood and I gaped at him. He looked curiously at me.

"Winry? What are you doing here?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but something very curious was happening behind the Colonel; the mysterious gate was opening.

The gate looked lopsided as it opened; only one of the two doors moved and it moved slowly, as if something were keeping it from opening properly.

"What's going on? The gate isn't supposed to open… Winry, what happened?" Roy's tone was urgent and he pressed his shoulder to the side of the door that was opening, pushing against it.

"I… I don't know. I was down where the fighting was and a building collapsed behind me."

The door Roy had been trying so hard to close now flung itself open and Roy flew a few feet away and landed with a heavy thud. I tried to move, to see if he was alright, but something was pulling me toward the threshold of the gate.

"Roy! What's happening?" My voice was strained and panicked and Roy rushed back to the gate, trying to close it again.

"I don't know how, but you're being pulled into the gate; Ed was supposed to have closed it from the other side already!" He stopped and looked horrifically at the gate for a moment. "I still have to close this side or it won't work… Winry! Try and fight it; I'll close the gate. Just hold on!"

I would have told him to take his time, but I had no idea how to stop what was happening to me. I saw Roy rush to the gate and trace his fingers over it, but I couldn't figure out what exactly he was doing. And all the while I kept getting closer and closer to the black void inside the gate. I saw the eyes and the smiles of whatever lay beyond and my heart jumped to my throat.

"Winry! Hold on! I'm almost finished!" Roy said as he stepped back. But it was too late, now. Black arms reached out, grabbing my legs and pulling, knocking me off balance and onto my back. They pulled faster, but as my legs disappeared into the black void, I heard the Colonel snap and a booming echo as the door slammed shut around my legs.

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End file.
